


Searching For A Feeling

by GameForDays



Series: Searching For A Feeling [1]
Category: BLACKPINK (Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, I truly don’t know why I wrote this, Mentioned TWICE Ensemble, Nothing too explicit, everyone has a soft spot for lisa, everyone is college age or oldder, this could either be genius or the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, tzuyu sucks at feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 10:49:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20759147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GameForDays/pseuds/GameForDays
Summary: Three times Lisa actually thinks Tzuyu hates her guts, and two times she thinks maybe she doesn’t. One time she knows for sure she’s been dead wrong.





	Searching For A Feeling

**[ . ]**

“Daaamn, nice place you got here, Momo!” the chestnut-haired whistles in awe, taking a look around the expensive apartment. 

“Yup,” her coworker groans. “You wanna get off me now?”

“Nah, I’m comfortable up here, thanks,” she grins, securing herself even tighter on the other woman’s back.

“Lisa I will body slam you, if you don’t remove yourself from my back this instant!”

“Okay, okay geez Momo. No need to get worked up. Thanks for carrying me!” she laughs, sloppily kissing the woman on the cheek as she slid off. “And our bags. You’re so strong,” she cooed playfully, squeezing her bicep for good measure.

“See if I ever invite you over again.”

Lisa’s body ached in places she forgot could ache, hence why she all but begged to be carried on their walk from the studio to the apartment building. The two had just finished a dance workshop together, teaching young adults ages 16-25. It was tiring trying to attend to each person while also moving the class along. They were there for 14 hours total with the prep they had to do two hours before the class started, plus lunch, water breaks, and clean up afterwards. After an extremely long day, they decided the best way to wind down was with wine and rom-coms. 

“I’m not worried, you love me.”

“Yeah, whatever. Those doe eyes will only get you so far in life,” Momo huffed, tossing their bags on the counter.

Lisa blows her a kiss. “They’ll get me far enough. Seriously though, your place is nice as hell.”

“Thanks. Not really mine though, I just live here.”

“What do you mean?” She was honestly afraid to touch anything. There was no way in hell she could afford anything in the apartment. Despite the age of the building they were in, the penthouse suite where Momo lived was modern and sleek. She almost felt unworthy being there, so she chose to clasp her hands behind her back and take up as little space as possible.

“Somi’s dad used to be an actor back in the day. He saved some money, invested here and there, and helped buy this place for us, along with Tzuyu’s mom, who also used to be an actor. Now she’s a major shareholder of this hospital in Taiwan. They really came in clutch.”

“Sounds like it. Got room for one more?”

The brunette chuckles. “As much as I’d love to have you cook us dinner every night, four people living here is already enough to handle.

“Dammit,” she curses playfully.

“Lisa, Lisa, Lisa...eager to get away from your roommates?”

“Ugh don’t even get me started on them. I love them, I do. They’re just a bit much, especially when they try to get me involved in their kinky shit,” she shook her head. “Anyways, can I shower? I feel yucky after that clinic.”

“Imagine how I feel after carrying your fat ass for five blocks,” Momo playfully jabs. “You can use Somi’s bathroom. She’s in Canada for a month visiting her family so it won’t matter. Down the hall, second door on the left. Everything you need oughta be there.”

“Perfect, thanks. Where are your other roommates?”

“Jeongyeon and Tzuyu both work at this fancy restaurant during the summer. On Tuesdays they usually don’t get off until 9,” the other woman answers, moving to the fridge to pull out a water bottle and chug it. “We can order take out after our showers. And I’ll text the girls to see if they can cop some fancy wine for us.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

Lisa heads to said room, completely forgetting the fact that she didn’t have a spare change of clothes. It’s not hard to find. She briefly gazes around, taking note of various family photos, vinyl records, trophies, and egregiously large flat screen TV mounted on the wall. She’s never met Somi, but from what Momo has said about her, the style of her room seems to fit what she believes is her personality. 

Her shower was a relatively quick one. Somi had a nice smelling shampoo, but she’s got _Axe_ body wash of all things. Luckily it doesn’t smell too boyish or give her a headache like most of the fragrances do.

After grabbing a towel off the hook, she finally realizes she doesn’t have any clothes. She’ll be damned if she changed back into her smelly dance clothes and it didn’t feel right raiding Somi’s closet, so she sets off to find her coworker.

“Momo?” she calls out.

Silence.

“Momo, I need some clothes, I don’t have a spare change in my bag,” she whines, walking out into the hallway. She almost always brings a spare change of clothes with her, but today she’d forgotten. But then again she also hadn’t planned on going home with Momo. It was a spur of the moment thing they’d decided while they tried not to act too fatigued in front of their class. “God it's freezing in this place. And why is it so big?” she asks herself. She pads down the hall, opening random doors. Study, closet, _ another _closet, bathroom. “Why are there so many doors?”

She opens up yet another door, relieved to find out that it’s an actual bedroom. However, its obvious it doesn’t belong to Momo. It's too minimalist and clean to be hers. The bed has a set of clean, crisp gray sheets, tucked neatly into the sleek metal frame with seemingly untouched pillows set on top of it. One wall has a computer desk pushed against it, neat and organized, while the other has a floor to ceiling, wall to wall bookshelf. A lone skateboard was leaned against the wall near the door.

Without really thinking much of it, she walks over to the shelves. Unconsciously, her hand lifts, brushing over all the spines. Every single book is worn in, looking like each has been read at least a dozen times. _ The Great Gatsby. The Outsiders. To Kill A Mockingbird. Kim Ji-Young Born in 1982. A Thousand Splendid Suns. The Hate U Give._ _ Star Wars. Becoming Michelle Obama_. Lisa had seen less variety of books in an actual bookstore.

“Can I help you?” a cold voice startles her. She spins on her heel, wet hair sticking to her face. Her hands loosen up around her towel in her fright. She gasps as it slips down her body. Nothing could be done about her flashing her boobs to a complete stranger, but thankfully she was quick enough to stop the towel right around her waist. As quickly as she can, she brings it back over her chest.

“Oh hi!” Lisa greets, her voice three octaves higher than normal, red in the face. “I thought that this was maybe Momo’s room,” she tried to lie convincingly. “S-she let me use Somi’s shower and then I realized I didn’t have any clothes, so I was trying to find her room. I normally bring a spare change of clothes with me, but I forgot today and then Momo asked if I wanted to drink wine and watch movies, and after a long day of dancing of course I said yes,” she explained unnecessarily. “Anyway, I tried like, a lot of doors, and then I came in here. I saw the b-books and I got distracted…” she continues, her eyes finally leaving the floor to see who’s room she invaded. “You’ve got a great collection by the way…” Her words trailed off as she finally takes her in.

Lisa would consider herself tall. She was the second tallest of her roommates, Rosie beating her by less than an inch, but compared to most Asian women, she towered over them all. This woman, however, easily had her beat two or three inches herself. Even at a distance, it seems like she was towering over her.

She was undeniably beautiful with her raven hair and smooth, perfect complexion. The woman was slender much like Lisa, but definitely had more meat on her bones, or more specifically, muscle. She wasn’t ripped by any means, but if she flexed her arms, it would be noticeable, unlike Lisa herself. And sleek black suit and tie she had on definitely did wonders for her figure, accenting her shoulders and neck.

_ God I’m so gay_.

“Momo’s room is on the other side of the apartment. First door on the right,” the taller woman states. There’s less than no emotion in her voice, but Lisa finds it attractive anyway.

“Oh! O-okay.” She doesn’t move from her spot, failing to pick up on any social cues due to her embarrassment and how caught off guard she was by how hot Momo’s roommate was. “I’m Lisa by the way. I’m a dance instructor with Momo,” she smiles brightly.

“Lisa,” the other woman repeats.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she stuck out her hand.

“I wish I could say the same.” Lisa’s smile drops, as does her arm. “Get out of my room.” It’s clear she’s not joking and means it with every fiber of her being. Her dark eyes stare Lisa down as if she’s trying to use some telekinetic powers to kick the dancer out without touching her. 

“Oh...s-sorry,” she shuffles towards the door, her head hung low once again. Lisa continues to speak before she could stop herself. “For coming in your r-room, and for f-flashing you.”

She could only imagine how red she looked.

“Next time you get lost in this apartment, I suggest it be in any room that’s not mine.”

Lisa frowns, becoming defensive.

“You know, you don’t have to be so mean. I didn’t come in here on purpose and it’s not like I was going through your things,” the chestnut-haired huffed, stomping out of the room.

She’s so put off that she doesn’t realize the pace she’s walking. And she certainly doesn’t pay a bit of attention to her surroundings. The dancer ends up bumping into a body in the living room, her towel falling off completely. “Shit!” she curses. Why was this happening to her?

“Woah, what’s the rush? Wait, who _ are _ you?” _ Another attractive woman in a suit? _ She thinks as she’s stabilized by her bare hips. “And where are your clothes?” she’s asked, once the woman realizes she’s in her birthday suit. She snatches her hands away as if she’d left them on a hot stove, backing up several steps until she felt she was at a respectable distance. She then turns her head so they’re not making awkward eye contact anymore.

“I’m...embarrassed. Look, I’m sorry I just need to get to Momo’s room,” she apologizes, launching herself towards what she hopes is her coworker’s door. The brunette is brushing her hair in front of a vanity mirror when she barges in.

“Yo what’s up- holy shit Lisa, why are you naked!? And why do you smell like my ex boyfriend!?” Momo exclaims, covering her eyes as Lisa stands pitifully in the middle of her room, shivering and doing her best to cover up the goods. “I didn’t realize how my invitation would sound, with me carrying you over here and all. I’m- I’m not interested in you. Don’t get me wrong, I think you’re dope and everything, and obviously you’re beautiful, but-”

“I’M NOT TRYING TO FUCK YOU, DIPSHIT, JUST GIVE ME SOME GODDAMN CLOTHES SO BEFORE I ACCIDENTALLY FLASH ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR HOT ROOMMATES.”

“Another?”

“Clothes, _ now_!”

“Right! Sorry!” Momo quickly goes to her closet, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and band t-shirt for her coworker to wear. The chestnut-haired woman accepts them without a thank you, stomping to the en suite bathroom and slamming the door. 

Her hands grip the counter so hard that her knuckles turn white. _ Kill me now _ she begs to some unknown higher power. _ I can’t believe that just happened. _ There was no way her blush would be going away for the rest of the night. 

“Lisa, you okay? Do you wanna come out?” Momo asks hesitantly, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“I came out ten years ago.”

“Not what I meant,” she could hear the eye roll in her voice. “Come out of the bathroom, you’ve been in there for fifteen minutes, I know it doesn’t take that long to put on two articles of clothes.”

“No thanks, I’m just gonna drown myself in your bathtub.”

Momo barges in the bathroom. Lisa had hoped the force of her slamming the door would have activated the locks, but unfortunately, that’s not how locks work. “Stop being a drama queen. I’m hungry, let's eat.”

“You sure you want to eat with me? Wouldn’t that give me the wrong impression that you’re interested in me?”

“In my defense, you barged in my room stark naked. I’m hot, so naturally I assumed the worst.”

“Please stop talking.”

The brunette holds her hands up in surrender. She does as she told for a total of twenty seconds before speaking again. “So I see you met Jeongyeon and Tzuyu,” she smirks.

Lisa groans, walking out of the bathroom only to let herself fall on Momo’s bed. “I’m not sure which one lives across the living room next to Somi’s room, but that one almost murdered me when I went in there.”

Her coworker gives her a look of sympathy. “That would be Tzuyu. She’s pretty territorial. I promise she’s a great person though. Very loyal, extremely compassionate, even though she’s got a fucked up way of showing it, super reliable. I won’t get your hopes up and say she’ll warm up to you because she’s not warm with anyone. But you’ll learn to interpret her actions and words and realize she doesn’t actually hate you.”

“I don’t think that’s likely…”

“That’s what we all thought. You get used to it after a while. Now come on. We’ll order some Thai take out and drink wine. Jeongyeonnie told me she brought home a bottle of _ Chateau D’esclans. _”

“I’m not going out there. I can’t look at either of them. I’d rather die.”

“They don’t care about seeing you naked, I promise,” Momo waved off.

“_ I _ care about them seeing me naked!” The brunette sighed, rolling her eyes. She strides over to Lisa, picking her up easily and tossing her over her shoulder. “Put me down Momo.”

“I will once we get in the living room and start drinking wine.”

“Now Momo!”

“Just a few more steps,” she says, before tossing her on the couch. Right next to the woman from the kitchen. She’d changed out of her suit and into sweat shorts and a hoodie. Her shoulder length lavender hair was now wet and slicked back.

“Oh god,” Lisa groans in misery.

“Hey, I’m Jeongyeon, Momo’s hot roommate,” the woman introduces herself, smirking as she holds her hand out. _ So she heard that... _ she thinks, groaning miserably.

“Jeongyeon, this is Lisa. She teaches dance with me at the studio. I believe you’ve seen each other before,” Momo snorts, earning a glare from her coworker.

“I’ve seen all of her I’m afraid. Nice tattoo you got on your ribcage…”

Lisa stands up abruptly, marching to the wall of glass that faced the city. “Do these windows open?” They’re twenty stories up. A fall from this height would surely put her out of her misery.

The brunette cackles loudly, pulling her away from the glass. “Don’t be dramatic, it’s nothing we haven't all seen before.”

“Yeah, I’m just teasing you,” Jeongyeon smiles easily. “Be glad Somi isn’t here, she would never stop bugging you about it.”

“It’s true,” Momo agrees. “She’d also probably put the memory away in the spank bank.”

“Better than Tzuyu almost murdering me for going into her room,” the Thai pouts.

Jeongyeon’s eyebrows raise in shock. “I’m surprised you’re not dead already. I was doing laundry once, folded some of her things and placed them on her bed. She found me and yelled at me for an hour. I thought she was going to choke me out. Probably would have if she’d actually caught me in the act.”

Lisa paled. “Oh my god.”

Momo clapped her hands. “But you’re both still alive and that’s all that matters! I’ll call and order us some food. Jeongyeonnie, crack open the wine. Lisa, pick two movies. Preferably with hot people in it.”

**[ . . ]**

Lisa let’s herself into Momo’s apartment, immediately heading for the fridge. She had a small break in between her classes, but she’d forgotten her wallet and lived too far away to run home, make a quick meal and get back in time to teach again. 

Momo’s place was the obvious choice. She lived closer and always had a stocked fridge. Why wouldn’t Lisa take advantage of that when she had her own key? Over the course of the following weeks, the blonde spent more and more time at her coworker’s apartment. Whenever they had late nights and early mornings, she would often just spend the night, sometimes on the couch, sometimes in Momo’s bed if she’s awake enough to drag herself into it. She genuinely enjoyed hanging out with woman and was glad they’d developed a friendship outside of work. Even more so she was thankful to have developed a relationship with Jeongyeon and even Tzuyu, who had apologized, albeit very forcefully (and 100% with the encouragement of her roommates), for her behavior.

After their first little encounter, they hadn’t had any problems. Lisa had a habit of making herself comfortable around people fairly quickly, and she was determined for that to be true with Tzuyu. 

Never one to hold grudges, by week three of knowing the woman, she was greeting her with a kiss on the cheek and hugging her once she left the apartment, just as she did all her other friends. Momo and Jeongyeon said it was surprising that the raven-haired woman even let her get within arms-length, but Lisa had only brushed it off. They were the ones that said Tzuyu wasn’t as bad as she seemed, and that had only been proven correct for her. It had taken a minute, but she’d learned to interpret her grunts, glares, and scowls, just like the other two roommates said she would. Even the staring she’d learned to accept, deciding that Tzuyu in general wasn’t much of a talker and chose to observe instead. And since Lisa was still very much the ‘shiny new toy’ of the apartment, she understood why the skeptical woman always had her eyes on her.

Of course, the dancer still avoided going down her hallway altogether. She didn’t want to cross too many lines or push too many buttons. If Tzuyu was really _ that _anal when it come to her personal quarters, then she’d leave it alone. It was safer that way.

“Hello, Lisa,” Tzuyu grumbles as she enters the kitchen. A normal person would have interpreted her tone as unpleasant or something else malicious in nature, but she knew better.

The dancer turns around. The taller woman as usual has that blank, almost displeased look on her face. Lisa takes in her disheveled black hair and slightly droopy eyes, coming to the conclusion that she must’ve just woken up. She looks adorable in her cotton shorts and _Seoul National University_ t-shirt.

“Hello, Tzu,” she greets with a smile, skipping around the island to kiss her on the cheek. “Sleep okay?”

“Yes, thank you for asking.” After the whole room invasion thing, Lisa learned that though she was a woman of few words, Tzuyu was extremely formal and polite. Borderline robotic even. There actually wasn’t a whole lot that could get her riled up, as long as you stayed out of her space. She was always the calmest and always the wittiest person in the room.

“I forgot my lunch and wallet at home,” the dancer tells the other woman, who had taken the liberty of sitting at one of the stools at the island. “Didn’t have time to run home, so Momo said I could raid your fridge,” she shrugs casually, turning back to look through the massive appliance. She spots an unlabeled take out box, assuming it’s Momo’s because she knows for a fact that Jeongyeon and Tzuyu typically ate much healthier than their roommate. She opens the box finding untouched chicken and rice. “Yum.”

Lisa takes out a plate (yes she knows where everything is now), slides the food out of the box and onto it, then pops it in the microwave. She fails to notice the look on Tzuyu’s face.

Right as the microwave beeps, Jeongyeon enters, hair even messier than her roommate’s and clothes askew on her body.

“Oh hey Lisa, what are you doing here?” She yawns.

“Just a quick lunch break.” The dancer takes the hot plate out of the microwave and begins eating quietly. “You know, I didn’t think you two were late risers…”

“We usually aren’t,” lavender-haired woman yawns again, addressing her with hooded eyes. “The restaurant had some fancy late night event for a bunch of rich people. We ended up working our normal afternoon shifts and then staying for incentive pay. Between the tips and time-and-a-half, we made bank,” she gestures between her and Tzuyu, who nodded in confirmation.

“Oh that’s nice I guess. But if you were up that late, it seems like you two should go back to bed.”

“Too hungry to sleep.” Jeongyeon gazes down at the plate, seemingly just now realizing Lisa had even been eating. She frowns in confusion. “Hey, whatcha got there?”

“Leftover chicken and rice from a box in the fridge. Momo said to help myself, since I didn’t have time to run home and I didn’t have any money,” Lisa answers. She watches as Jeongyeon’s eyes switch from herself to the plate she was eating, then to Tzuyu. They held eye contact for several moments, communicating without words. It’s slight, but she notices the Tzuyu’s jaw tightens. “What’s wrong? What’s with the faces? I didn’t eat your food, did I?”

Tzuyu elbows Jeongyeon harshly, not even bothering to be subtle about it. “Nothing!” the baseball player says quickly, albeit in pain. “Nothing is wrong. And no the food isn’t mine,” she clears her throat.

“Okay? Then what was with the staring contest you guys were having?”

“Oh you know, that’s kind of our thing. I stare into where her soul should be, and she glares daggers into mine.”

Lisa gasps as Tzuyu suddenly (and roughly) pushes Jeongyeon off the stool she was perched on. The lavender-haired woman hits the floor with a loud thud. 

“Tzuyu, what the fuck man?” She groans miserably.

“Um…” the chestnut-haired tilts her head questioningly at Tzuyu, then looks over the edge of the island. “Are you okay?”

Groaning even louder, Jeongyeon stands up, sending a purposeful dirty look to her roommate, who’s got the faintest of smirks on her face. “_Fantastic_. I’m going back to bed.”

“I thought you were hungry?”

“I’ll just eat sleep.”

Jeongyeon huffs in annoyance, padding back to her room.

“As many questions as I have surrounding,” she gestures vaguely across the counter, “...whatever that was, I have to get back to work.” She finishes her plate quickly, washing it in the sink before placing it on a drying rack. “Promise me something?”

Tzuyu frowns in confusion, but nods.

“No more abusing your roommates okay?” She scolds gently, but doesn’t even bother to hide her amusement.

“She had it coming,” the taller woman states. A normal person wouldn’t even be able to detect it, but Lisa knows she’s only half serious. She could hear it in her voice and saw the minuscule smile tug at her lips.

“Maybe so,” she shrugs, walking towards the door. “And by the way, I don’t think that you don’t have a soul. I just think it's unique.” And she leaves it at that. “See you later, Tzu.”

She doesn't get a response right away and she doesn’t expect one either. So when she faintly hears the raven-haired woman’s voice right as the door closes, she’s a bit surprised.

“Take care, Lisa.”

The chestnut-haired woman halts for a moment before smiling to herself.

..

Momo greets her the second she walks through the studio front entrance. “How was your break?” The brunette was stretching on the hardwood floors.

“It was fine,” she shrugged, joining her. “Your roommates were being weird though. Tzuyu pushed Jeongyeon off one of the stools in the kitchen,” she recalls with a frown.

“What for?”

“Well Jeongyeon called her ‘soulless’...”

The brunette hummed. “Yeah she had that coming I suppose.”

“That’s what Tzuyu thinks too,” Lisa giggled softly. “But they had a weird staring contest with each other right before.”

“Yeah they do that sometimes. It’s like telepathy or some shit. The silence makes me uncomfortable.” Momo perks up as if she’s remembering something. “Hey you didn’t eat all of our food, did you?”

Lisa rolls her eyes. “No, I only ate the leftover take out in the fridge.”

Momo freezes. “What take out?”

“The one in the fancy black box?”

“Oh god, Lisa that was Tzuyu’s!”

“Oh? She didn’t say anything,” the Thai shrugged, wondering why Momo was looking at her like she just committed mass murder. “What’s with the face?”

“Lisa, last year Tzuyu found Somi eating her spaghetti, so she poured the plate on her head and then made Somi go buy her more food. She was put on a timer and if she didn’t make it back in 30 minutes, she and I quote, ‘didn’t want to know the consequences’. Luckily Somi made it back in 22.”

“Okay that just sounds like a made up story.”

“Jeongyeon also drank some of Tzuyu’s special imported juice or whatever that she gets from Taiwan. Tzuyu threw her laptop off the balcony as she was writing her 20-page essay.”

“Again, sounds fake.”

“It’s true I swear! She hates when people eat her food. We try to label her things to avoid situations like that.”

“If she doesn’t like people eating her food, how come she didn’t say anything to me?”

Momo frowned deeply, like the thought was bothering her to no end. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

The two sat in silence for several long moments. Her coworker kept mumbling nonsense to herself, sounding like a mad scientist trying to figure out the origins of the universe. She really wasn’t sure what the big deal was, especially since Momo’s story sounded completely fabricated, but it was all making her anxious now. Would things revert for her Tzuyu back to the way it was the first day they met? She hoped not.

“Okay stop it! You’re freaking me out with all the silence and mumbling. If I ate her food and I truly shouldn’t even be alive right now, I’ll just make it up to her. I’ll just cook for everyone tonight and make her favorite meal or something.”

“I think we’ve established that she’d never do anything to you.”

Lisa frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She’s ignored as Momo continues. “I’m more concerned about me since I’m the one who told you everything was fair game. But cooking her favorite meal might be a good idea...she’ll feel less inclined to kill me.”

“God you’re so dramatic,” the blonde rolled her eyes. “But that settles it. We’ll go to the market after work and I’ll just cook for everyone. What’s her favorite meal?”

“Either tonkatsu or kimbap.”

“I’ll make both then.”

**..**

Lisa is in the middle of finishing up both dishes when Tzuyu pads into the kitchen/living room area, presumably due to the smell of the food. Up until that point, she’d been trapped inside her room. Momo was sitting on one of the island stools, the furthest one away from the food. Jeongyeon sat in the living room, peeking her head over the back of the couch as she watched her roommate’s every move.

“What is all this?” Tzuyu mumbles, eyes roaming over all the food laid out, before eyeing the Thai woman curiously. 

“Hey Tzu, take a seat,” Lisa tells her, smiling when she doesn’t get any resistance. “I’m just about done.”

The dancer continues to work in the kitchen, bouncing around from pan to pan, while simultaneously cleaning up the mess she made. She grabs two of the nicer plates and begins placing food on each, neatly and with intent. Her step-father was a masterchef after all, she knew how to make a dish look attractive.

“I heard tonkatsu and kimbap were you favorite, so I made both. And then a combination of the two,” Lisa grins, sliding the plates in front of the taller woman, along with an ice water.

“Oh.”

“I was informed that I ate your food earlier today, so this is me apologizing. I didn’t realize, and since you were kind enough not to murder me, I thought I could try to make it up to you.”

“Oh,” Tzuyu mumbles. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

Jeongyeon, who’d been watching the exchange closely, scoffs loudly from the couch. “Wasn’t a big deal? Why does Lisa get a free pass? I almost failed a class because of you!”

“Shut up!” Momo hissed, not wanting her roommate to ruin her chances of watching Tzuyu and Lisa interact. “You passed the class, didn’t you?”

Lisa and Tzuyu didn’t pay the two any attention. The chestnut-haired gestures excitedly for the taller woman to try the food. Tzuyu does, slowly picking up a set of chopsticks. She takes one of the rolls and pops it into her mouth. She chews agonizingly slow before swallowing. Her dark eyes gaze at Lisa, almost in awe before she’s able to compose herself.

“That’s the best kimbap I’ve ever had.” There’s only the slightest bit of inflection in her voice to indicate that she truly means what she’s saying. But even more so than that, her eyes give her away.

“Thanks! My step-dad is a master chef, so it would be a dishonor to him if it weren’t.”

Tzuyu doesn’t respond, but she gives the dancer the faintest of smiles. Momo made eye contact with Jeongyeon and gestured towards the two other women. Lisa was a literal ball of sunshine sure. It didn’t take much to please her or make her smile. But it seemed that someway, somehow, her positive energy was actually affecting Tzuyu. Momo thought that if you squinted just enough, her roommate actually looked happy.

**[ . . . ]**

A series of loud bangs on the door startled everyone in the apartment. The brunette cautiously answers the door, opening it wide up when she sees four familiar faces, one of which looked particularly displeased.

“Hey Momo,” three out of the four people chorused.

“Hello Jennie, hello Jisoo. Uh Chaeyoung? Why is Lisa draped over your shoulder?”

“Lisa wouldn’t stop bitchin’ about how sore she was from dancing and how she didn’t feel like walking so Chaeng carried her,” Jisoo says dismissively. “Is that chicken I smell?” she questions, moving around the bodies towards the kitchen.

“I obviously didn’t mean like this!” Lisa huffs, her bangs lifting momentarily.

“Hey I wouldn’t go in the kitchen if I were you. Tzuyu doesn’t like people being in there while she cooks,” Momo addresses the redhead before turning to Lisa. “Your plan to manipulate people with your puppy dog eyes backfired huh?”

“Fine, I’ll respect house rules,” Jisoo groans, moving towards the living room instead.

“It’s not manipulation. I can’t help it if everyone has a weak spot for me.”

They’re all caught off guard by the front door swinging open once again. “Well I’ve gotta say…” a new voice says from behind the group. “This is already way better than that bullshit birthday party you guys threw together for me last year.” The person steps through the bodies, a wide smirk on their face. “But I do not condone kidnapping beautiful women for my sake. I prefer that they come to me willingly.”

“Somi! Welcome back!” Momo exclaimed, hugging the woman as Chaeyoung finally sets Lisa on the ground. The Thai smooths out her dress, sending a glare to her Australian roommate. 

“Miss me?” the Canadian asks, opening her arms for a hug, which Momo gladly accepts.

“Of course, but you’re an hour early! So much for your surprise...” She slaps her arm.

“Yeah my plane landed hella early so I just came straight over. The driver my dad hired was already there so it wasn’t really a problem,” she shrugged. The fourth roommate steps back, not so subtly eyeing her guests. “Soooo…who are your friends?”

“Somi, this is my coworker Lisa and her roommates Chaeyoung, Jisoo, and Jennie. We like them, so try not to scare them off,” the shorter dancer with bangs says pointedly. “Since it’s your special day I’ll go take your bags into your room.”

“Aww thanks roomie.” 

“Happy birthday,” Jennie says for them, stepping forward to hand her a huge bottle with a bow tied around it. “We didn’t know what to get you so we got you tequila imported from Mexico. 150 proof.”

“Someone’s trying to take advantage of me tonight,” Somi said suggestively, earning a smirk from Jennie. The shorter woman steps forward, hands on her hips as she gazes at the other woman. Chin up, eyes seductive, lips slightly parted.

“You wish,” she steps past the taller woman, making herself comfortable in the living room and introducing herself to the other guests. Chaeyoung and Jisoo follow while Lisa heads to the kitchen.

Somi’s eyes follow Jennie. “I like her,” she chuckles to herself as she shakes her head. Her eyes then switch to Lisa. “I like her too.”

Jeongyeon enters the foyer, shaking her head playfully. “You’re an idiot,” she tells her roommate, but hugs her nonetheless. “Welcome back.”

Somi’s eyes are still on Lisa as she pulls away from the hug. Jeongyeon rolls her eyes as she sees her roommate lick her lips.

"Don't even think about it, she's off limits for like a thousand reasons."

The Canadian waves her hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, sure. Wait, did she not just hear Momo warn the pretty redhead about the kitchen?”

“You heard that?”

“I was listening through the door for a little bit,” she shrugged.

The baseball player chuckles. “Uh okay...Anyway, those rules don’t apply to Lisa.”

Somi's interest is obviously peaked. “Explain.”

Jeongyeon pats her back. “Just watch.”

The Thai dancer struts into the kitchen, immediately wrapping her arms around Tzuyu from behind, using a dainty hand to angle the taller woman’s face towards her to kiss her on the cheek. The action earns a noticeable enough smile from the taller woman. And for someone who has known the woman most of her life, Somi can confirm its one of the biggest ones she’s given since her youth.

“Hey Tzu-Tzu.”

Somi’s eyes widen. “Wait what? Affection? Pet names? I’m gone for 30 days and Tzuyu gets a girlfriend?” She feels like her brain is short-circuiting trying to process everything.

“They’re not dating. Lisa is affectionate with all of us really, but Tzuyu gets _ just a little more _attention. She probably doesn’t even realize she does it.”

“How- but- I don’t get it-“

“Yeah well get this: Lisa stopped by for lunch one day because she’d forgotten hers and didn’t have her wallet. Long story short, she ate Tzuyu’s leftovers...right in front of her. Nothing happened to her.”

“What do you mean nothing happened?”

“Exactly that. Lisa found out later that day and cooked her favorite meals and Tzuyu told her it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Not a big-? The bitch poured _ spaghetti _ on my _ head._”

“Things don’t apply to Lisa,” Jeongyeon repeats with a smirk.

“What the actual fuck?”

The lavender-haired woman shrugs. “We were confused by it too. Then we accepted it. One day we’ll use it to our advantage.”

“Liver and omasum?” Lisa asks, moving around Tzuyu’s body to stand close to her. She clings on to the woman’s upper arm, rubbing it affectionately.

“They’re Somi’s favorites.”

“It’s sweet that you made them for her.”

The raven-haired woman hums in response. Lisa, as usual, isn’t at all deterred by her lack of response. She’s able to have a full blown conversation with Tzuyu while the other woman either gives short answers, or nods or shakes her head. They don’t really appear to be talking about anything, but Tzuyu, in her own weird, closed off way, seems to enjoy Lisa’s company. Jeongyeon and Somi don’t know how long they stand there watching before the Canadian finally speaks up.

“How the hell does Tzuyu snag a woman _ like that _ without even possessing below basic people skills?”

“I don’t know, but I think they’re cute,” her roommate shrugs. “Come on, we invited some of your work friends and they haven’t even seen you yet.”

Somi nods, sparing one last glance at the two before letting herself be dragged into the living room.

**..**

They’ve secured a nice big VIP booth for Somi at some fancy club downtown. The birthday woman is surrounded by her roommates minus Momo, and her two work friends, Chungha and Doyeon. The group had decided to keep themselves entertained for the time being by watching Lisa and her roommates on the dance floor as they waited for Momo, who went to fetch drinks. They were all impressed by how well Rose, Jennie, and Jisoo could move and keep up with the professional, seemingly without breaking a sweat. 

And the women hadn’t just kept _their_ attention. No, the entire club was watching them in some capacity. Some were staring intensely like Tzuyu (whose attention was solely on Lisa). Others were outright ogling with hungry eyes like like the group of men at the booth adjacent to theirs. Even the people with them on the dance floor would glance their way every now and then. Being talented and beautiful got you that kind of attention.

“You know, they’re really cool people,” Jeongyeon speaks up, right as Momo comes back with a tray of assorted drinks. The four other roommate’s notice and leave the dance floor. “I’m glad we met them. I can’t believe it was barely a month ago that she ran through our apartment naked.”

“Ha!” Momo cackles, remembering the day. “Yeah that was hilarious. I’ve never seen her so red, not even after hours of dancing.”

“Wait what?” Somi asks eagerly.

Jennie and Rose both grab whiskey sours eagerly, sliding in the booth beside Doyeon since her side had more room. Jisoo grabs a glass of water, sliding in after them. Lisa grins as she sees a vodka redbull, almost instantly downing the drink.

“What was hilarious?” the Thai asked, setting the cup down and sliding in the booth herself, right on Tzuyu’s lap, even though she had plenty of room for her own spot. Her right arm drapes lazily around the Taiwanese woman’s shoulders.

Somi raises an eyebrow at Jeongyeon who gives her a look that basically says ‘I told you so’. Momo sends her a cheshire grin as she slides in after the woman.

“You. Running around our apartment naked.” Lisa pales instantly, earning loud laughs from her roommates as she hides face in the crook of Tzuyu’s neck.

“Pause. You were in our apartment and Jeongyeon and Momo saw you naked?”

“Tzuyu saw too,” Momo supplies unhelpfully. Somi looks at the roommate in question, who only shrugs casually.

“Leave me alone,” the woman mumbled miserably.

“So everyone in the apartment has seen Lisa naked, but me?” Somi pouts playfully. “We should change that.” Tzuyu’s eyes shoot to her, glaring hard.

“My favorite part is when she screamed that we were hot,” Jeongyeon smirks. To make her point she pops the color of her baseball jersey and seductively lifts her cap to run her fingers through her hair. She looked more like a teenage boy mimicking a move he’d seen in a music video.

“You know what, I’m not drunk enough for this,” Lisa decides to stop hiding as she reaches for another drink.

“Eh, I just think its funny that the whole reason she was butt ass naked was because she wandered into Tzuyu’s room and got scared away.”

Somi tsked playfully, lightly punching the woman’s shoulder. It earns her a another hard glare. “Tzuyu, you never scare away a beautiful woman when she’s standing in a towel in your room, I thought I taught you better than that.”

Lisa cupped the right side of the woman’s face while kissing her left cheek sloppily. “Leave Tzuyu alone, she apologized.” For good measure, she boils her nose and the Taiwanese just lets it happens. “And you left out the part where Momo thought I was trying to fuck her.”

The brunette rolls her eyes. “Lisa, we’ve been over this. You’ve seen my abs, I’m hot. One can only assume. You didn’t even have a towel when you got to my room.”

“I’m sorry,” Doyeon interrupts, obviously not in-the-know like everyone else and just trying to keep up. “Why exactly were you naked in the first place?” She asks, trying to piece together everything.

The dancer sighs. “Momo and I had just gotten off of work and we were gonna have a wine and movie night. We both needed to shower, so she said I could use Somi’s since she was out of town. I forgot an extra change of clothes and Momo is a terrible host so she didn’t give me any beforehand so I was forced to explore the rest of the apartment until I found her room. I accidentally went into Tzuyu's room, flashed her, bumped into Jeongyeon in the living room, lost my towel, and ran away.”

“So Lisa was not only naked in the house, but in my own shower and no one thought to tell me until now?”

“You’ve only been back like 3 hours,” Momo shrugged.

“If you want to see Lisa naked so bad, just swing by our place,” Rosé offers, grinning evilly. “She’s almost always naked there.”

“Don’t play with my emotions, woman.”

“No, its true,” Jennie adds playing along, watching as Somi’s eyes glaze over. “Lisa doesn't wear clothes if she can help it.”

All the heads seem to swivel in unison towards the Thai woman. “I like to be comfortable in my own home,” the Thai defends herself.

“And everyone else’s apparently,” Momo snorts.

“And she looks at _ us _ crazy when we ask if she wants to have a foursome,” Jisoo grumbles. Rosie and Jennie nod in agreement while everyone else freezes.

There’s a pregnant pause at the table.

“And on that note, it’s time to go back to dancing,” Lisa claps her hands, a blush creeping up her neck.

“Say less.” Rosé downs her drink, not even bothering to ask Jennie or Jisoo to move as she climbs over their laps.

“Babe! Watch our drinks!”

“Oops.”

Chungha’s eyes light up as a particular song blast through the club. “Yeah I’ll join.” She grabs Doyeon’s arm to follow, not giving her much of a choice in the matter. “You too, Somi.” The birthday woman nods, following the group out to the floor.

Lisa doesn’t know how long she danced for, but it was long enough for her friends to tire out before she did. Her body moved on its own accord. She didn’t care about anyone that came up to her to either dance, try to talk, or offer her a drink. But the more her friends supplied her with alcohol, the more careless she became.

She’d been shooing people away all night, but as one final guy came up to her, she let him step behind her and put his hands on her waist. With the look on his face, he must have thought he was special since she’d turned everyone else away, but the truth was, she just didn’t care anymore.

“The name’s Jimin.”

“Lisa.”

“You’re really good at dancing,” he compliments.

“I should be, I do it for a living.”

“Oh cool, do you-”

“Less talking, more dancing,” she says almost rudely. She blames it on the alcohol.

Lisa moves her body against his, caring less and less where he moved his hands and how close his mouth was to her ear. Little did he know he was nothing more than a prop for her to showcase her skills.

She thinks she feels the eyes of everyone in the club on them as they move. In reality, it's only a few sets, one in particular holding an extreme intensity. Searching for the pair, she locks eyes with Tzuyu, who looks less than happy, but then again she always looks that way. Lisa doesn’t know what possesses her to do so, but she smiles seductively at the woman. She moves her body fluidly and expertly, never breaking eye contact with her. Her hands trail over herself and she smiles to herself when the notices Tzuyu follow them. She might’ve even seen her tongue dart out between her lips.

Really, Lisa has no idea why she’s doing this, but she’s drunk and it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

She spins to face him momentarily. His eyes light up. She can tell he thinks he’s got some sort of shot at taking her home or if nothing else, a kiss. He’s dead wrong. When he starts leaning in, she spins back around. When she tries to find Tzuyu’s eyes again, the woman has disappeared. She’s too far out of it to think too far into it so she keeps dancing.

The Thai leaves the man a few songs later, mumbling a ‘later’ and stumbling back to her friends’ table. She feels dizzy.

“You okay, Lis?”

“Yeah I’m fine, I just need some air,” she assures, gripping the edge of the table firmly.

The dancer weaves through the crowd and heads toward an exit quickly. It leads to some alley where she sees a group of people smoking. She ignores them, leaning against the cool brick of the building to catch her breath. The only thing the chestnut-haired woman can think about is how she probably should’ve been drinking more water throughout the night and probably should’ve worn more sensible shoes.

“Hey baby!” Lisa curses under her breath as she hears the loud deep voice call out to her. She looks up with droopy eyes, looking at the mixed group of around 6 people. Four guys, two women. “You want a smoke?”

“No thank you,” she slurs just loud enough for them to hear.

“Oh come on. You look like you could use one. Why don’t you come hang out with us?”

“I said no thank you,” she says with more focus on her speech, looking back down at her shoes. She tries to concentrate on her breathing. Logic tells her she’s on solid ground, but it feels she’s floating and the earth is spinning.

Multiple footsteps make their way towards her and she curses again, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Why don’t you wanna hang out with us? Do we not look trustworthy to you?” asks a man that she’s established as the leader in her mind.

“No I jus’ don’t like smoking n’ I dunno ya so,” she thinks she explains delicately, but is almost certain she sounds like a third grader.

They’re an intimidating looking bunch. The guys are pretty rough looking, with scars on their faces and less than nice clothes. Their shirts, jackets, and jeans were all ripped. Tattoos were pretty much on every exposed body part she could see. The women were just as scary, with tight dresses, tattoos, and way too much makeup on their faces.

“What’s wrong with smoking?” he asks, coming right up to her to place an arm on the brick behind her.

Her brain is still foggy, but lucid enough to know when to start panicking. “It constricts airways n I’ma dancer so I need ma lungs healthy,” Lisa says quickly. His stench hits her and she does her best to hold her breath without passing out.

“Oh I can tell. That body is banging…”

“Please jus- jus leave me alone,” she begs. “I don’ wan any t-trouble, I jus came outside to get some air.”

“Now who says we want trouble? We just want to hang out with you.”

“She asked you to leave her alone,” she hears Tzuyu’s dark voice. Relief washes over her. As attention is turned away from her, she exhales deeply.

“Hey why don’t you mind your own business?”

“She is my business. Lisa get in the car.” The dancer looks over Tzuyu’s shoulder, noticing the woman’s sleek black Aston Martin. She slowly made her way towards it. As she passes the Taiwanese woman, she notices the deadly look on her face. Even the first time they’d met, she’d never been on the receiving end of so much anger. Her nostrils are flared, her eyes are blown wide in fury, and there might as well have been smoke coming out of her ears. If the situation wasn’t so tense, she’d think more about how hot Tzuyu looked with her strong jawline and square shoulders.

“No need to get riled up, we’re just trying to have some fun, right guys? In fact, we’d love it if you joined too.”

“Oh yeah we could have a real good time together,” one of the other guys smirks.

Lisa hangs back, hand on the door handle, body facing Tzuyu.

“You don’t want to mess with me,” the taller woman says menacingly, looking ready to fight.

The leader picks up on her body language, flicking a pocket knife open. “Oh but I think we do.” They step towards her. The Thai panics.

“Tzuyu, let’s jus go home,” she begs. The dancer was drunk, tired, and scared, witnessing Tzuyu get jumped was simply not something she could handle right now. There was no way she could even help the woman when there was a high probability of her throwing up.

“I’ll give you one chance to listen to your girlfriend and run along.” Of course being as stubborn as she is, the woman doesn’t back down. She stands tall as they circle her, shoulders square, the same deadly look on her face.

“Please, Tzuyu. It’s not worth it, les jus leave.” God she sounds like an idiot.

By the grace of some higher power, the Taiwanese woman actually listens. She backs up slowly, never taking her eyes off the group in front of her. They taunt and laugh maniacally, but she doesn’t take the bait. She nearly rips off the handle opening the passenger door for Lisa. She ushers her in without words and then slams it shut, causing the chestnut-haired woman to jump. She gets that Tzuyu’s angry, probably running on a bit of adrenaline, so she doesn’t speak on it.

In an instant, the taller woman in the driver’s seat. She glares one more time out the pitch black windows before speeding off. Lisa watches her from the passenger seat. Tzuyu’s knuckles turn white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. Her jaw clenched and she’s breathing deeply through her nose deeply.

“I should go back there and kick their asses,” she seethes.

“Um, no you shouldn’t. There was like six of them an they probably all had weapons,” Lisa tries to reason.

“I could have taken them.”

Oh does Lisa believe it. It’s scary to think of all the things Tzuyu could be capable of.

“What the hell were you thinking?” the other woman asks suddenly. “Going out into a dark alley at fucking 3am.”

“Iwas hot n’ needed some fresh air,” Lisa defends quietly.

“That was stupid, Lisa,” Tzuyu says outright. “You should have never gone outside, especially not alone. They were looking at you like you were prey that had fallen right into their trap.” Her voice was gradually raising. The dancer doesn’t have time to even think about how talkative the other woman is being because she’s never, in fact, been scolded his harshly in her life. “You’re so careless! What if I hadn’t been there huh? What if I had been 30 seconds or even a minute too late? Are you trying to get kidnapped or assaulted? Or maybe end up dead in a river?”

“I didn’t- I-”

“Going outside wasn’t even the worst of your decisions tonight.” _ Ouch_. “You got so drunk you could barely even remember your own name, you left your drink unattended all night, you danced on anything with a fucking pulse, and to top it off you wore _ that_.”

She already knows where this conversation is heading and the thought what’s coming next nearly sobers her up completely. “What? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re practically asking for it.” There it is. “Wearing that fucking dress that leaves basically nothing to the imagination.”

“Pull over.”

“Excuse me?” Tzuyu finally looks at her, but only briefly.

“I said pull the fucking car over! Do it, or I swear to God I’ll jump out.”

Thankfully the Taiwanese woman does as she’s told. Lisa storms out of the car almost immediately, stomping down the sidewalk.

“Lisa! Where are you going?”

“Somewhere you aren’t!”

“Lisa come back here,” Tzuyu commands firmly. “It’s not safe for you to be out on the streets like this.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Get in the car, Lisa.”

The Thai continues, heels clicking as fast as her drunk legs could take her. She probably hadn’t put hardly any distance between her and Tzuyu, what with her stumbling and such, but in her mind she was flying down the sidewalk.

“Get in the car, Lisa,” she says again, and the woman is too drunk and mad at her to detect that her tone. 

The loud, distinct sound of a hand slapping the hood of a car stops her heart and makes her freeze in place.

“Get in the car, I’m not going to ask again.”

“You didn’t even ask the first time,” Lisa grumbles from her spot, crossing her arms over her chest.

Tzuyu closes her eyes, seemingly trying to calm herself down. “Please, Lisa. Just let me get you home safely. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

The last part doesn’t make it to Lisa’s ears, but the dancer seems pleased enough by her manners. She wordlessly gets into the car, and buckles up, arms crossed at her chest, back facing away from the driver’s side.

**..**

Lisa wakes up to blinding sun seeping through a set of dark sheer curtains. Her head is pounding and her mouth tastes like cotton. The first thought that flows through her mind is how grateful she is that she doesn’t work today. Both her and Momo’s classes had gotten cancelled, which meant they could spend the whole day recovering from last night.

Groaning, she rolls over in the soft sheets. She comes face to face with a slack-jawed Somi. The woman is lying flat on her back, mouth open, legs half out of the blankets.

The dancer panics. Had she and Somi slept together?

“Oh god, oh god, oh god.” She rips the blankets off of her, checking her body immediately. “I’m not naked?”

“Would you keep it down?” Somi grumbles, turning on her side and snuggling into her pillow.

Lisa purses her lips, panic still rising in her. Okay so she had on clothes, well, a t-shirt and her panties. That didn’t mean they slept together? Did it?

“No we didn’t sleep together,” Somi sighs, eyes still closed. “I was talking to Doyeon when you and Tzuyu got back last night. You yelled at her and she stormed off. Most of everyone else had already gone to bed so you asked if you could sleep in my room. I gave you one of my shirts, you cried a bit and then went to sleep.” 

Relief washes over her.

“Oh.”

Somi peaks an eye open and then sighs again. She sits up, deciding that she wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep with Lisa mumbling to herself and stressing out.

“She must have really pissed you off last night. What happened?”

There’s no hesitation for Lisa to explain. Her words tumbled out of her mouth like vomit. Of course she doesn’t remember most of the night. Everything at the club was mostly a blur, but she remembers everything before they arrived and she certainly remembers sobering up when six strangers had her backed against a brick wall. She remembers how angry Tzuyu had been with her. She remembers the harsh words the woman spat at her. It all seemed like a huge step back in their relationship.

Somi nods slowly, taking in all the information. The Thai expects her to say something childish, perhaps talk shit about her own roommate or say how wrong Tzuyu was. She wants to be told something that validates how shitty she feels about the whole encounter. But what the Canadian says instead throws her off completely.

“I’ve known Tzuyu longer than anyone in this apartment. We went to boarding school together. Believe me when I say she’s always been like...this. The stone cold face, extremely dry sense of humor, the distance she puts between herself and others...it’s every bit of who she is. But you learn to decipher it all, take less offense to her behavior.”

“I usually don’t, but she just went off,” Lisa says glumly.

“Tzuyu doesn’t get worked up easily.”

“So what, you’re saying that I just bring it out of her?”

“I’m saying that unlike the rest of us, she’s gone through most of life not feeling most emotions. Nothing traumatic has happened to her or anything like that, that’s just how she’s wired. So when she does come across any emotion, it’s sensory overload. And then she can’t process it or express it well. And when that happens, she feels out of control so she gets frustrated. With the situation, with herself, and with whatever brought upon the emotion.”

“Go on.”

“So if she blew up on you, it’s probably because she couldn’t process everything she felt when she thought you were in danger. Fear and worry are complex emotions.” Somi pauses. “She cares about you. A lot. And that’s more than can be said for most people in her life.”

“She’s got a funny way of showing it.”

Somi gave her a half smile. “We all do,” she pats her shoulder comfortingly. “I’ll go get you some water and aspirin.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one taking care of you? You’re the one that just had your 21st birthday…”

“Last night may have been my 21st, but that certainly was not my first rodeo,” the younger woman winks. 

Somi slides out of bed, adjusting her skewered t-shirt and boxers. She barely makes to the living room when Tzuyu’s door swings open. She doesn’t have time to register anyone else in the room before a firm hand is on her shoulder, spinning her around roughly.

“Did you sleep with Lisa?” The dark-haired woman asks accusingly.

Unknown to the both of them, Doyeon, Chungha and Momo were sleeping on the couch. Doyeon’s head pops up first, peaking over the back of the couch as the handle hitting the wall wakes her. She nudges Momo, who jerks awake in confusion, and then Chungha, who doesn’t react with anything other than a snore.

“Why, you jealous?” Somi smirks.

“She was drunk, Somi.” Her roommate had never heard her voice so deadly before.

“But still sober enough to ask to come to my room.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” She’s seething now.

“Nothing is wrong with me, what’s wrong with you? Only one of us is angry right now,” Somi smiles.

“I oughta kick your ass.” Tzuyu steps forward right as Lisa enters the hallway. Somi presumes she must have heard her roommate’s loud voice.

“What the hell?” The dances (now with plaid pajama pants on her lower half) peeks her head around the corner curiously before realizing what was happening. “Tzuyu stop it!” Lisa steps between the two and puts her hand on the Taiwanese woman’s chest. It successfully halts her, but since she’s shorter than both of them, they’re both staring straight over her head.

“I’m curious, _ Tzu-Tzu. _Why does it bother you so much that Lisa came to my room, hmm?” she inquires in a teasing voice. It’s not the playful kind that friends use with each other. It’s the kind bullies use when they’re trying to break their victims.

Lisa couldn’t believe that after the talk they’d just had, Somi was trying to push Tzuyu’s buttons this early in the morning. She was still a bit confused on the topic and what she had to do with this. “Somi, hush. Tzuyu, look at me. What is this about?”

“You and her! She- last night you-“

“What’s with the screaming? It’s too early for this,” Jeongyeon yawns as she enters from the hallway opposite the living room.

“Our dear Tzuyu seems to think that Lisa and I had sex last night.”

Lisa’s jaw drops. Now it made sense why Tzuyu looked ready to kill her oldest friend. “That’s what this is about? I met her like 12 hours ago,” she said incredulously, hoping to get the point across that she definitely did not sleep with Somi...in that way.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” the taller woman argues. The Thai supposed that in the grand scheme of things, it really didn’t. But she wasn’t like that. She didn’t just have sex to have it. She had to actually like someone enough or feel extreme attraction to them. She could count on one hand the number of times she’s had a one night stand or slept with someone without knowing them well.

“If you’re implying that I sleep around with strangers, you’re dead wrong. And I especially wouldn’t do that with my coworker’s roommate who I just met of all people! I’d say I can’t believe you think so little of me, but you made that pretty clear last night,” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at her feet.

Had the dancer not been fuming, she would have noticed the look that flashed across Tzuyu’s face. A look of pure regret. Momo noticed it as well as Jeongyeon. They had no idea what events transpired the night before, but they knew remorse when they saw it. Even from someone like Tzuyu, who probably didn’t know how to express it. They shared a look.

“I’m leaving,” Lisa grunts.

“Don’t bother, I’ll go,” Tzuyu mumbles, taking five long strides to out the door.

A moment of silence passed over the room.

“Welp,” Somi clasps her hands, “who’s hungry?”

“Why the hell did you provoke her!?” Momo exclaims.

“I was testing my hypothesis.”

“And what hypothesis could that be? All you’ve done is escalate the situation, which none of us even know about, but can now confirm is pretty fucking bad!”

“Tzuyu’s in love with Lisa,” the redhead said smugly, as if that explained everything.

“Duh! Everyone knows that, Somi! That’s no reason to taunt her!” The Japanese woman scolds.

The Thai stills as the group argues around her. She hadn’t realized it was common knowledge that Tzuyu was in love with her. In fact, Tzuyu being in love with her hadn’t ever been something she’d even considered. Sure she knew the woman had a soft spot for her. That much was obvious when Momo and Jeongyeon had insisted that she should have been dead at least seven times by now for doing things that the Taiwanese woman despised. But she had hoped part of her leniency was due to the fact that Lisa had tried so hard to be nice to her and treat her the same as she would every other friend. That her kindness had bred more kindness out of Tzuyu. Not because the woman was in love with her…

If everyone was so certain Tzuyu was in love with her, the question remained, did Lisa feel the same way? She wasn’t so sure. There weren’t many people in her life that she could see herself falling in love with. She chalked it down to not having met the right person yet. But then again there was no one else she craved to be around like she did Tzuyu. Even when she was visiting for Momo, she always gravitated towards her like it was the most natural thing in the world. It was hard not to really. The woman was intelligent, funny, and incredibly compassionate. The first you could guess, with the way her nose was always in a book. The latter two you could only experience slowly, but surely through communication that wasn’t always verbal.

And she couldn’t lie that and say it didn’t do things to her whenever Tzuyu would look at her as if she was the only person in the room. How she always listened intently to whatever she had to say. The small smiles that she wouldn’t give anyone else…

She loved Tzuyu. Just as she loved Momo, Jeongyeon, Jennie, Rosie, and Jisoo. But was she in love with Tzuyu?

It was possible?

“Well I’m sorry I haven’t been here for the last month and this is all new to me!” Somi defends herself. “I wanted to see for myself how much she actually cares for Lisa.” Her voice, pulling the blonde from her thoughts.

“And you thought implying that we had sex together was a good way to go about that? Screw you, Somi. One, you’re not my type, and two, that’s not okay! I mean she’s already mad at me about last night and then this was just icing on the cake.”

The Canadian steps back, appalled. “Okay first of all, I’m _ everyone’s _type. Second of all, I already told you, she’s not mad at you. She just had some feelings to work out.”

“Yeah and then you go and shit on those feelings. And mine.”

Jeongyeon sighs loudly, rubbing the remnants of sleep off her face. “Can someone just explain what’s going on? We’ve all gathered that Tzuyu thought Somi took advantage of Lisa, but what happened last night and why would she be upset with her about it?”

The Thai huffs. “I don’t have the energy to explain it again. I mistakenly confided in Somi this morning, she can explain to you all. I’m getting my roommates and then we’re leaving.” She begins to stalk down a random hall before realizing that she has absolutely no idea where they are or if they even came back to this apartment or went to their own. She pauses. “Where are they?”

“My room,” Momo answers. “They wanted to…” the woman looks as though she can’t bring herself to say the words, almost as if she’s constipated. “I let them use my room.”

Lisa nods, continuing down the correct hallway. She throws open the door and finds all three of her roommates naked in bed. She rolls her eyes as Rosie sits up with the blankets pulled to her chest. The pink-haired woman, who was sandwiched between the other two women, yawns. Jennie, who was snuggled into her side, grumbles cutely. Jisoo remains completely knocked out, half her face pressed into the sheets, mouth ajar.

Lisa can see the purple bruises that start at Rose’s neck and disappear behind the covers. She can see the scratches on Jisoo’s back. Jennie is too far under the covers, but she imagines she’s got some markings as well. She thanks whatever higher power that’s listening that she was on the other side of the house and knocked out from drinking to have to listen to whatever her three roommates did last night.

Poor Momo. And poor Jeongyeon.

“Everything okay? I heard yelling, but I sorta fell back asleep.”

“I just really wanna go home. I’ll explain everything on the way there, I just can’t be here anymore. Please.”

Rosé nods with a look of understanding. They both move to wake the other two roommates. Jisoo wakes easily enough, though she’s very disheveled and confused. Jennie is usually a nightmare to wake up in the morning, especially after a night of drinking, and this morning proves to be no different. It takes two of them to slip on her underwear and slide one of Momo’s larger hoodies on her body. It stops a little past her ass and it's good enough. Rose slips her jeans on from last night along with a more comfortable t-shirt, also from Momo’s closet. Jisoo is lucid enough to put back on her dress, which hadn’t been nearly as tight as Lisa’s.

The four walk back into the common area, Jennie on Rose’s back, snoring softly into the back of her neck, and Jisoo with wadded up sheets in her arms.

Chungha (who mutters an audible ‘oh my’ when she sees the group) and Doyeon have moved to the kitchen, presumably searching for something to eat. Somi has disappeared. Momo, who is cringing pretty aggressively and avoiding eye contact, is standing next to Jeongyeon, who is casually leaning against the back of the sofa, arms crossed over her chest, looking plain stressed and tired.

“Laundry room is right there, the double doors by the counter with the Keurig on it,” the other dancer tells the redhead who nods sheepishly, temporarily moving away from the group.

“I called a cab for you all. Should be here by the time you make it downstairs,” Jeongyeon informs her.

“Thanks,” the Thai smiles gratefully. She ushers her friends towards the door, but Momo quietly asks her to hang back. 

“I just wanted to apologize about Somi...and Tzuyu. They’re both a lot to handle for very different reasons and I didn’t expect you meeting them to blow up like this.”

“It’s okay, I don’t blame you,” she assures her coworker. “You and I both know I’ll get over this, I just need a little time. These past twelve hours have been a lot is all.” She moves to hug both Momo and Jeongyeon. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Even after the four women leave, a thick air is left behind.

“Well was a shit show,” Doyeon comments. 

Chungha scoffs, “No kidding. I love Somi, but she doesn’t know when to shut up sometimes.”

“So no one is gonna comment on the fact that Lisa’s roommates very clearly kicked Momo out of her own room and fucked in her bed?” Jeongyeon snickers. 

The dancer turns beat red. “Oh my god, can we not? I need to burn that mattress.”

**[ . . . . ]**

It took Somi all of one to find Lisa and apologize. She’d popped up randomly at the dance studio with a bag of American cuisine for both the her and Momo. True to her word and self, she forgives the woman easily, but threatens to smack her the next time she implies they’ve had sex. Somi has no objections.

It took Tzuyu much longer. In fact, a whole three weeks go by before she saw the woman again. She hadn’t stopped going over to the apartment or interacting with anyone by any means, but it seemed as though whenever she was over, the Taiwanese woman conveniently was not. 

She was at the supermarket to get a few things for the apartment. Jennie had requested toothpaste, Jisoo had requested frozen chicken nuggets, and Chaeyoung, condoms. She herself needed more body wash, they all needed bread, and she really wanted some sweet, tooth-rotting, cereal.

Unfortunately, said cereal happened to be on the very top shelf. She hopped and stretched, but couldn’t reach it to save her life. There didn’t seem to be any market employees around, and it looked like she was going to have to settle for a brand that wasn’t _ Marshmallow Fruit Loops_. She’d sighed dramatically and pouted to herself before she saw an arm reach out past her. It grabbed the cereal and presented it to her.

“Thank you,” she smiles, relieved.

“You’re welcome, Lisa.” Tzuyu.

The chestnut-haired woman stepped back, taking in the full frame of the woman who had been avoiding her. Tzuyu was dressed more casually than she’d ever seen her. Sure at her apartment she’s dressed in sweats and t-shirts, but she can say with almost one hundred percent certainty that such attire never left those four walls. Yet here she was, in pair of black athletic shorts and a heather gray _Seoul National University_ sweatshirt. She even had a cap on.

“Oh, hi,” she greets in what she hopes is a neutral voice.

“Hello.” She expects there to be silence if she didn’t carry the conversation, but the look on Tzuyu’s face says otherwise. Her mouth opens, then closes, then open again only to close again. She looks so frustrated and distressed and naturally Lisa wants to hug her to put her at ease. “I’m sorry for what I said. For that night and the morning after. I just got so emotional at the thought of something happening to you and the next thing I know I’m being an asshole. I didn’t mean one word of it I swear. And then the thing with Somi...she just knows how to get under my skin and I thought she’d taken advantage of you and I just-“

“I’d never sleep with Somi, Tzuyu.”

“I know that. But even if you had, it wouldn’t be any of my business.”

“No it wouldn't…” Lisa acknowledges. It’s slight, but she sees Tzuyu shoulders drop. “I forgive you.”

In an almost puppy-like fashion, the Taiwanese woman perks up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she nods, stepping forward to wrap her arms around the other woman’s neck. It’s a new kind of hug for them. All the others have been casual, quick hugs, of course with Lisa always initiating them and the other woman lightly embracing her back. They’ve never been in a position where Tzuyu has her head buried in the crook of her neck, breathing deeply with arms wrapped tightly around her waist as if she’s afraid what will happen if she lets go.

The dancer revels in the feeling. It’s nice.

Someone clears their throat. She feels Tzuyu lift her head, already knowing that she was glaring at whoever the person was. Lisa turns her head and sees a teen standing awkwardly, rocking back and forth on his feet.

“I just- you’re in front of the _ Capt’n Crunch _,” he tells the blonde weakly, eyes cutting to Tzuyu briefly before shrinking in his spot.

“Sorry,” she apologizes, grabbing the taller woman’s hand to lead them away from the aisle as she tows along her small shopping cart in the other. “What are you here for?” she asks the woman, noticing how she didn’t have a cart of her own or any items in her other hand.

“Flowers.”

“For the apartment?”

“For you,” Tzuyu corrects, looking straight forward. “To apologize with.”

Lisa’s heart swells. For the sake of being modest, she was going to say ‘You don’t have to do that’, but she really wants to pick Tzuyu’s brain. Receiving flowers from someone who is supposed to be as unfeeling as Tzuyu does something to her. Before she asks the question she really wants to, she can’t help but wonder. “You were going to get me flowers from a grocery store?” she asks teasingly.

Tzuyu flushes and starts sputtering uncharacteristically. “I- it’s...I googled the best flower shops and this one had high ratings on _ Yelp_…”

Lisa can’t help it. She bursts out into a fit of giggles. _ Apologetic Tzuyu™️ _ was much easier to fluster than _ Normal Tzuyu™️, _ and a _Flustered Tzuyu™️ _ was a comical one.

“I don’t do this a lot okay,” the taller woman grumbles. There’s an adorable pout on her lips that makes the Thai all but melt.

“You’re so cute,” she coos, pinching her cheek and wiggling it.

“I will bite you,” the Taiwanese woman threatens with absolutely no malice in her voice. It wavers a little bit from her still being flustered.

“No you won’t,” Lisa smiles, bumping their shoulders together. “So what kind were you going to get me?”

“Lily of the valley and purple hyacinths.”

“What do they mean?”

“‘I fucked up.’”

The dancer snorts, leaning into the other woman’s side as she giggles. “S’that the exact meaning?”

The corner of Tzuyu’s lips turn up ever so slightly as she looks down at the joined hands. The dancer pretends not to notice. “Not quite.”

“Well?” Lisa bumps her shoulder as she continues to pull the taller woman with her. “Come on, tell me.”

“The purple hyacinths represent sorrow and regret, sadness.”

The Thai nods. “And the lily of the valley?” she asks. They venture down the 

“One of its meanings translates to ‘a return to happiness’.”

“And the other?”

“Can’t say.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

Tzuyu shrugs.

“You know I could just google it right?” The Taiwanese woman nods. “So you might as well just tell me.” This time she shakes her head and Lisa pouts. “Fine. You’ll tell me one day,” she says confidently, pulling them down another aisle.

As they walk, the older woman tries to subtly toss a box of condoms in the basket.

“Magnums?”

“They’re for my roommates, don’t ask.”

**[ . . . . . ]**

Lisa was confused to say the least. She and Tzuyu had made up, but it all seemed to be for nothing now, as the Taiwanese woman was avoiding her again. For about a month and a half they were fine. Better than fine actually. Whenever Lisa came over, the Taiwanese woman actually let herself out of her room and socialized...well, her weird, distant version of socializing. She talked more, which still wasn’t really a whole lot, and she smiled more too. To top it off, there was also a shift in their relationship after the apology.

As the dancer had opened her mind up to the idea of having feelings for Tzuyu, the other woman had actually started showing her affection. It was already pretty major that she even let Lisa be affectionate with her (a fact that Somi, Jeongyeon, and Momo constantly hounded her about), but to reciprocate it and even initiate it was beyond groundbreaking. Plus they went on dates (well Lisa considered them dates, she had no idea what Tzuyu thought they were). Neither one of them addressed the very obvious shift, but for now Lisa was content with just living in the moment and enjoying whatever they had.

Their interactions weren’t just limited to her coworker’s apartment, or whenever they all went out as a group anymore either. Tzuyu had taken a bold step by leaving her comfort zone and visiting the dancer’s apartment...a lot. She was probably over at least three times a week, and spent the night nearly every time. In fact, there was probably only one night a week when they weren’t in the same bed because whenever she was at Tzuyu’s apartment she spent the night as well. Spending the night always guaranteed cuddles, if Lisa had anything to say about it. 

Nights in Tzuyu’s arms were even better than she could have anticipated, not that she’d thought a whole lot about it before. Only small notes, like the fact that she thought Tzuyu gave nice hugs. And her presence for whatever reason was extremely soothing for Lisa. 

The Taiwanese’s position always started out innocent and respectful. Typically she’d sleep on her back and Lisa would be the one to initiate the contact by throwing an arm and leg over her body. Lately, however, there was a lot of spooning, always with Tzuyu on her backside with an arm protectively wrapped around her waist. Occasionally, they’d both end of on their sides, facing each other. On those nights, she’d get an unexpected but very welcome kiss on her forehead and a ‘Goodnight, Lisa’ in the most gentle voice. Other times, she’d just end up right on top of Tzuyu. When they woke up, it took everything in her not to kiss her. _Sleepy Tzuyu™️_ was down right adorable.

So yeah things were going really, really well. Until they weren’t.

She hadn’t seen or heard from Tzuyu in a week and quite honestly, that was entirely too long. Somewhere along the way, her mood became dependant being in the other woman’s presence, which was the telltale sign of a relationship destined to fail. Lisa firmly believed your happiness shouldn’t depend on another person and if it was, you’d be that much more miserable when things went wrong in it. That your life shouldn’t stop just because you weren’t around the person you loved. Healthy relationships required independence.

Right now, she didn’t have an ounce of it. Sure, she kept going to work and ate and took care of herself in general. She even found other means of entertainment via in old friend visiting town when she realized her and Tzuyu wouldn’t be talking any time soon. But she’d gotten really used to sleeping beside the Taiwanese. With the two of them not talking for the umpteenth time in their relationship, it was admittedly difficult for her to sleep at night.

Lisa supposed this whole situation would be less bothersome if she actually knew what the issue was this time. Unfortunately, the change was night and day. One day they were texting and talking and cuddling, the next Tzuyu acted like she didn’t exist.

She sighs loudly as she looked at the clock. Her class would be starting in an hour, people would be showing up in half that time and she needed to get ready. Stacking up her paperwork in a neat pile, she leaves her office to go to main space.

Momo and Mina, their other coworker who happened to be the local ballet expert, were practicing their routine for an upcoming showcase they had when she entered. Jeongyeon was also in the room, standing in her signature baseball jersey and cap outfit, holding a bag of takeout presumably for Momo. The lavender-haired woman was just standing watching the two, jaw slackened. Lisa had seen it nearly a dozen times and loved it more and more each time, so she understood why the woman was in awe. It was a piece about an abusive relationship danced to a haunting version of Beyonce’s _ ‘Crazy in Love’ _ and her two coworkers acted it out perfectly.

“Ugh, can we take a break? I’m never going to get this move right. Jeongyeon is supposed to be bringing me fo- oh there she is, right on time as usual,” Momo says cheerfully, skipping over to her roommate to snatch the bag out of her hands. “Thanks.”

“Yeah no problem,” she says distractedly, her eyes glued to Mina.

The ballet dancer is completely oblivious to her audience, opting to stretch when Momo suggested they take a break. She pushes her legs out in front of her, leaning forward to touch her toes, her hair creating a curtain to hide her face. When she breaks out of the position, her hair flips elegantly back over her shoulders.

“Her name is Mina and she’s single,” Lisa tells her as she approaches.

“I wasn’t- I’m not-”

“Sure,” the dancer nods convincingly, causing Jeongyeon to blush a deep red. “So where’s my food?”

“You- Momo said you’d already eaten lunch, she told me not to worry about it, if I had known-”

Lisa cuts her off with a giggle, “Woah there, relax I’m joking, Jeongyeonnie.”

“You are so mean,” the other woman huffs. “Speaking of mean, I have a question. Are you and Tzuyu fighting?”

The Thai sighed, motioning with her head to follow her over to a row of chairs lined up against the wall. 

“I don’t know what’s going on. One minute we were great, the next she’s ignoring my calls and texts, conveniently not being at the apartment when I show up. I wish I knew what was going on in her head.”

“You and me both. She’s been a real head case whenever she does come home and we’re all over it.”

“Well, Jeongyeon, I’d love to resolve this as much as the next person, but she’s ignoring me.”

“I’m not blaming you, I’m sorry if it’s coming across that way. Its just- we all know Tzuyu is emotionally constipated so figuring out her feelings and where her head’s at is damn near impossible.”

“Agreed. I wish I could be of more help to you guys, but I’m just as lost. I thought we were beginning to really start something, you know? Like I thought she was really into me, and I’m into her and yeah we haven’t really talked about what we are, but it’s kind of all been implied. I’m affectionate with her, she’s affectionate with me, we sleep in the same bed, we go on dates...What we have isn’t complicated and that’s what I like about it.”

“Maybe the issue isn’t just that she’s into you. I mean back at the apartment, we’re all pretty positive she’s in love with you.”

“Yeah I heard that the last time things blew up between us. It’s great that you all are so certain, and you should also know that I think I’m falling too, but I need to hear her say how she feels about me to my face, ‘cause I’m not going to continue looking like a fool when she gets in her head or angry for a reason literally no one knows...”

Jeongyeon smiles sympathetically. “We get off work at 10pm tomorrow. I’d ambush her then.”

It’s decided then.

“Okay I will. Thanks Jeongyeonnie.”

“No problem, Lisa.”

The xhestnut-haired smiles before snapping her finger as if she remembers something. “Oh! And Jeongyeon?”

“Yeah?”

“Their competition is in two weeks at the Convention Center. I assume you’re going anyway to support Momo, but we’re all going out to dinner and clubbing afterwards. You should come…”

“Oh. Yeah okay.”

“You’re her type,” she sings.

“Okay, now you’re just trying to get a rise out of me,” Jeongyeon jabs playfully. “I’ll see you around and hopefully this will all be resolved by tomorrow night.” The taller woman gives her a comforting squeeze on her shoulder and kisses her on the side of the head, before heading to the door. “Take care.”

“You too, Jeongyeonnie,” she smiles.

The lavender-haired woman slides out the door, unaware of an older woman dressed in expensive clothing with tan skin and long silky raven hair entering behind her. She’s got familiar features, but Lisa can’t pinpoint where she’s seen them.

  
“Do you speak English?” She smiles, nodding. Luckily she did speak it, and fluently at that. “I apologize if it’s an inconvenience. I don’t know any Korean, I’m only visiting for a few more days.”

”it’s no problem, ma’am.”

“Good,” she smiles in reservation. “Is that your girlfriend?” The woman asks.

That’s an odd and personal question, Lisa thinks as she shakes her head. “No ma’am, she’s just a really good friend.”

“That’s a shame. Jeongyeon’s a real catch.”

“She’s a great person,” Lisa agreed, wondering where this was going. “But I’m not into her in that way.”

“So are you dating anyone then?”

“That’s a...loaded question, and one I’m not really interested in answering with a client. Can I help you with anything?”

The woman looks her up and down, not a judgemental or skeptical way, but seemingly just to take her all in. Under the gaze of someone of obvious high social class, she feels a little insecure. In her own place of work she feels unworthy and underdressed. “You’re Lisa Manoban, yes?”

“That’s me. Do I know you?”

“I’m Huang Yen-ling.” The blonde frowns. The name wasn’t familiar and she didn’t know any Huangs. “Tzuyu’s mother. Do you have time to talk? And somewhere private?”

Lisa freezes for a moment. Of course the beautiful woman was Tzuyu’s mother. The more she looked at her, the more she saw how uncanny their resemblance was. And she knew the Tzuyu grew up pretty wealthy, but this woman looks like she belongs on the cover of Forbes.

“Well?”

The dancer snaps out of her daze. “Of course, follow me. I have to warn you though, I teach a class in a little less than an hour.”

“I’ll only need a few minutes.” Lisa nods and they head to her office. She gestures with her hand for the woman to sit. 

“So how can I help you, miss? M-Missus?”

“Yen-ling is fine.”

“Yen-ling,” Lisa agreed nervously. “Is Tzuyu okay?”

“My daughter is fine.”

“Okay?”

The woman sighs, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. “As I’m sure you already know, my daughter isn’t fond of verbal communication or emotions. For so many years, I thought I was failing as a parent because I could never get her to talk to me about how she felt or what she was thinking; she never needed me for anything. We tried sending her to camps to make her more sociable and out-going, but that only seemed to make her more unhappy.” Lisa listened intently, wondering why they were having this conversation. “By the age of 11, my husband and I decided that was just who she was, so we would have to be supportive of that. It was a hard pill to swallow, but we all made an agreement that if she ever needed us or wanted to talk about anything, we would not push and she would come to us on her own.”

The Thai purses her lips. “I’m not sure I understand why you’re telling me all this…”

“Tzuyu has only ever come to either of us one other time. Our dog died when she was 17. The only thing she said was ‘Mǔqīn, I am sad’. She cried for a minute and a half, and then pushed me away as if it never happened. And then last Sunday I get a phone call from her and she asks me if I could fly from Taiwan to talk. Naturally, I think the worst, because she’s never contacted me for anything, other than the mandatory emails I make her send to let me know she’s alive. Imagine my surprise when she invites me to brunch and talks about you for two straight hours.”

Lisa isn’t sure what to say.

“If her talking about you for two hours didn’t prove to me how much she cares about you, then seeing her deflate when she saw you with that young man at lunch definitely did.”

It all suddenly makes sense now. “Is that why she’s avoiding me? Because she saw me get lunch with my cousin?”

“My daughter has been territorial since the day she came out my womb.”

“Oh I believe that one hundred percent,” Lisa huffs. “She’s being irrational though. I mean I know we haven’t talked about the details of our relationship, but like, I’m hers and I think I’ve made that pretty clear. We’re practically a couple. We go on dates, we cook for each other, I throw myself at her literally 24/7 and we sleep together every night!”

The older Taiwanese visibly cringes, “I probably could have gone without knowing that last part…I mean my daughter is 21, so I’d have to be naive to think she’s not sexually active, but-”

“Huh?” The dancer’s eyes widen as she realizes how her words could be interpreted. Her face reddens. “Oh god! That’s not- we just sleep! Like in the s-same bed, that’s it! We haven’t had sex yet!”

Now the woman just looks amused. “Yet?”

Really, her face couldn’t get any redder at this point, so she chooses to be honest in the situation. She feels oddly comfortable with Tzuyu’s mother and she already passed up the opportunity to be formal and poised when she exploded so what the hell. “I’m very attracted to her. I’d have jumped her bones a long time ago if she wasn’t so damn respectful all the time.”

“That’s an odd complaint to have about someone…”

“I wouldn’t call it a complaint, per say. It’s actually one of the things I love about her. How formal and considerate she can be. It’s just- I know she loves me. And everyone keeps telling me she’s in love with me. I just need to know she’s attracted to me. There’s a huge difference between the two, you know.”

“I’ve been on this earth twice as long as you have. Believe me, I know.”

Lisa clears her throat. “Right. Sorry. A bit of my frustration is escaping. I can imagine this isn’t a side of me she mentioned when you had brunch.”

“She said that you were full of life, spunky at times...thoughtful, extremely affectionate,” the woman says with emphasis, causing her to blush, “kind, funny, beautiful...patient. She couldn’t stress that one enough.”

The dancer doesn’t comment. She’s not sure she could come up with anything intelligent to say. Of course she always tried to be these things in her daily life, but hearing that it’s something Tzuyu has said about her is just different. She’s not so sure they’re things the other woman would ever say to her face.

“It means a lot that you’re so patient with her. There’s no one that psychoanalyzes themselves more than Tzuyu. She knows how frustrating her personality can be and it makes her extremely happy that it hasn’t pushed you away to the point of no return,” Yenling continues. “As a mother, the only thing you care about in life is your child’s happiness. So I just ask that you continue to be patient with her. She needs that.”

**[ . . . . . . ]**

Lisa stands up from the bed the second the door opens. Tzuyu slides into her room looking extremely tired in her black dress pants, pressed white shirt and loose tie. Her eyebrows that were pressed together in a line on her forehead raise when she sees the Thai standing in the middle of her room.

“Lisa? What are you doing here?” 

“Close the door. We need to talk.”

The Taiwanese is obviously very confused, but she does what she’s told anyway. She drops her blazer onto the dresser nearest her before walking over to the older woman who is waiting for her expectantly with her slender arms crossed over her chest.

“Tell me how you feel about me, Tzuyu.”

“What?”

“Tell me how you feel about me. I’ve heard it from _ your _ roommates, I’ve heard it from _ my _roommates, I’ve even heard it from your mother. Now I want to hear it from you.”

“When the hell did you talk to my mother?”

“Focus, Tzuyu, answer the question,” the dancer arms move to her hips as she cocks them to the side.

“Fine. You frustrate me, Lisa.”

Oh. _ Oh _.

Well she was not expecting that one. What a mistake it was putting her confidence in the people closest to Tzuyu, thinking they would know her feelings better than anyone else. Boy were they wrong. Boy was she wrong. God she felt like an _ idiot_.

“Oh,” she vocalizes this time.

“Can we sit?”

“Actually, I think I have to go. I’m sorry to ambush you like this, I thought-“ she can’t even finish her sentence. 

Lisa tries to brush past her because holy shit this was such a mistake, but Tzuyu softly grabs her hand preventing her from exiting. The Taiwanese is gazing at her with the softest eyes that are pleading her to stay. Her heart flutters.

“Okay,” she gives in. The taller woman nods, gently pulling her towards the bed.

They sit, Tzuyu impossibly straight as always, Lisa slouched a little, fiddling with her hands in her lap. The dancer feels like she’s about to get broken up with someone she’s never officially had. 

“You frustrate me,” the other woman repeats.

“You’ve mentioned.”

“Because I don’t like the way you make me feel.”

“Ouch.” Okay seriously, this was getting worse and worse.

“I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just that I’ve gone virtually my whole life not feeling anything and then you just make me feel everything all at once. And I hate that because I don’t know how to deal with it,” she huffs. “That’s why I’ve been avoiding you. I didn’t want what happened on Somi’s birthday to happen again. I saw you with this guy the other day and-“

“You mother mentioned that. It was my cousin by the way…”

Tzuyu stands up abruptly. “And that’s the thing! Because it doesn’t matter who he was, it’s not any of my business. I shouldn’t have been so jealous, but I was and I don’t want anyone else to have you. And then I realized I was monopolizing all of your time and that isn’t fair to you…”

That actually made a lot of sense. It was stupid, but it made complete sense. Tzuyu didn’t know how to cope with knowing that any relationship Lisa had with anyone else was none of her business and out of her control. And on top of that, she felt like she was keeping the dancer from spending with anyone else or just plain living her life. So she distanced herself.

“I’m in love with you.” Lisa’s breath caught in her throat as Tzuyu says the words. “I probably have been since the moment I laid eyes on you, I don’t know. I never really knew what this kind of love felt like, but I look at you and I know this must be it. It’s not the same kind of love I get from my parents, or the kind I feel with Momo, or Jeongyeon, or even Somi as much as she pisses me off. I thought I knew everything and then the moment I met you I realized I knew nothing. And-“

Lisa cuts the other woman by pulling her face down by her tie and smashing their lips together. Tzuyu is shocked, clearly. Her hands have to latch onto the bed to keep from completely falling on top of the dancer. Her eyes have closed instinctively, but her lips haven’t moved. Before she has a chance to respond, the dancer pulls away. They’re still only centimeters apart and Lisa still has a death grip on her tie.

“I’m sorry, please continue.”

“What?”

“Continue with what you were saying. Sorry I interrupted,” Lisa apologizes as she bites her lip. Tzuyu’s eyes drop down to it, darkening as she moves her face just a tad bit closer.

“I’m not sure that I can...my mind is a little foggy now.” The hunched over woman swallows roughly as her eyebrows knit together. Her intense brown pools rise back up so she’s making eye contact again with Lisa. “Let me show you how I feel about you instead.”

The blonde finds herself nodding. “Okay.”

Tzuyu lowers herself back onto the bed, beside Lisa. One hand comes up to cup the older woman’s face ever so gently. Her lips brush against the other woman’s. Both of their hearts pound rapidly as she pauses there. “I love you, Lisa. And I’d really like it if I could show you just how much…”

The dancer only responds by pressing their lips more firmly together. One arm moves to wrap itself securely around Tzuyu’s shoulders as she all but drags the younger woman on top of her. They slowly move towards the head of the bed, never breaking contact, until Lisa is on her back, pressed up against incredibly soft pillows. Their lips slide against one another in unison and it’s nice. More than nice. It’s new and exhilarating to be with each other like this even if Tzuyu is still being a little too reserved for Lisa’s taste. She wants more. She wants Tzuyu.

Deciding to increase the intensity of things, the Thai woman licks the younger woman’s bottom lip, begging for entrance. Once their tongue comes in contact with one another, they both know they’re done for. The groan that escapes Tzuyu’s lips has Lisa’s legs wrapping around her waist on their own accord. Her feet hook around the back of the raven-haired’s legs, effectively keeping her from escaping as their waists come together. The Taiwanese takes this as an invitation to rock into her. Lisa moans into her mouth, which only encourages more rocking. She feels like a teenager again, grinding with her high school crush on her parents couch.

Outside the door, Momo and Jeongyeon stand with their ears pressed against it.

“They’re not talking anymore I can’t hear anything,” the dancer whispers.

“Did they fall asleep?”

“You think?”

“I’m not sure I couldn’t make out any of the words when they were talking. But it would make sense, they have the most boring relationship. They went to bed together every night but never had sex,” the lavender haired woman rolls her eyes.

“Hey relationships aren’t just about sex, you know.” As the words leave Momo’s lips, a very distinguishable moan travels through the door. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind it belongs to Lisa

They gaze at each other wide eyed..

Tzuyu’s lips attack Lisa’s neck as one of her hands slide underneath her shirt. The dancer is extremely aware of how painfully slow it moves as it inches closer and closer to her breasts. She hadn’t worn a bra, because she had on a camisole. Once it came off, she’d be completely bare up top. As she realized this, she became aware of how many more clothes Tzuyu was already wearing than her.

“Wait,” the dancer hisses as canines sink into her skin yet again. Tzuyu was marking her territory no doubt, and she didn’t mind it one bit. The younger woman stops immediately as soon as she hears her voice, her lips leaving her neck and her hand removing itself from her top

“I’m sorry, I got carried away-“

Lisa interrupts her with a kiss. “You have on more clothes than me. I want to change that.”

Tzuyu’s tie is tossed on the floor and Lisa’s hands begin working on the buttons of her white shirt in seconds. They then move to the woman’s belt, sliding it out of the loops so fast it burns. The Taiwanese kicks off her pants quickly.

“What are you doing?” Jeongyeon asks when she sees Momo take out her phone.

“I’m gonna FaceTime Rosie, she’s always on her phone.”

The pink-haired woman picks up after one ring.

_ “G’day mate,” _the Australian greets, lazily popping a grape into her mouth.

“Oh nothing much...Jeongyeonnie and I are just listening to Lisa and Tzuyu have sex, no big deal.”

The pink-haired woman’s eyes widen comically. _ “Shut the fuck up.” _ Momo turns down the volume of her phone because she knows what’s coming next and she doesn’t want to give their spying away. _ “Jen! Jisoo! Come here, Lisa’s getting laid!” _

There’s indistinguishable fumbling and muttering on the other side of the phone before two faces join the Australian’s on the screen.

_ “It’s about fucking time,” _ Jisoo grunts at the same time Jennie says, _ “Prove it.” _

“You want me to barge in and show you them having sex on FaceTime?”

_ “Well…” _ Momo looks like she just might take the woman up on the challenge. Rose, Jisoo, and Jennie look all too excited at the thought of catching their roommate in the act. Perves.

“Not happening,” Jeongyeon interjects, watching as two faces morph into disappointment and the other morphs into plain annoyance. “You can just listen, I’m not willing to die for any of you.”

_ “Lame,” _ the cat-faced woman grumbled as Momo presses her phone lightly against the door.

Another loud moan escapes Lisa’s lips as Tzuyu’s teeth and tongue work on her left nipple. The dancer has the woman’s head cradled in her arms, legs still impossibly tight around her waist. They

Tzuyu seemed to be perfectly content with taking her sweet time exploring her body. She leaves a trail of hot kisses down Lisa’s taut stomach until she reaches the area of skin just above her center. Her head lifts and she just gazes at her lover. With love, with concern, with lust, with adoration and every other possible emotion. Her eyes rake over her body, as if to admire her own work and appreciate the body the dancer has worked so hard for. Being under such an intense gaze unnerves the blonde even further.

“Why’d you stop?”

The Taiwanese climbs back up her body to cup her face delicately. “You’re so beautiful, Lisa. I hope you know that,” she says with the utmost sincerity.

“So are you,” Lisa matches her tone and actions. “I love you. Now make love to me.”

From outside the door, the two roommates, plus the three on the other side of the screen, hear a loud, high-pitched whine.

_ “Oh I know that sound anywhere, she’s getting head,” _ Jisoo states. Both Momo and Jeongyeon blush. It never ceased to amaze them how comfortable Lisa’s roommates were when it came to all things sex.

_ “That’s my girl,” _ Jennie smirks.

“I think it’s time to hang-”

_ “Are you crazy, it’s just getting good!” _ Jisoo exclaims before Momo could even finish her sentence.

In that moment, Somi comes out of her room, yawning, arms stretched high above her head.

“That’s the last time I take a nap after 7pm,” she says tiredly to herself, completely oblivious to what’s going on down the hall. When she notices two of her roommates crouched down in front of her third roommate’s door, she frowns.

“What are you guys doing?” she asks as she approaches. Her feet halt and her eyes widen as another loud moan escapes through the door. The sound is downright pornographic.

“Is Tzuyu watching porn on her flat screen? She knows headphones exist right?”

Jeongyeon is about to answer when more sounds escape the room, followed by a, “Fuck Tzuyu,” in a voice that is very clearly Lisa’s.

Somi blinks twice. Due to her grogginess, she’s not even sure if she heard what she thinks she did. Surely her quiet, short-tempered, callous and socially awkward best friend and roommate wasn’t currently shagging one of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen in her life. Surely she hadn’t lured _Lisa Manoban_ in her bed. And yet...she could hear the woman’s voice clear as day on the other side of the door. And said woman was definitely moaning Tzuyu’s name. Loudly.

“Well I’ll be damned.”

_ “You owe me fifty bucks, Somi,” _ she hears Chaeyoung’s voice. _Of course Momo and Jeongyeon facetimed Lisa’s roommates_ she rolls her eyes.

“It would appear so,” she sighs.

_ “Cash please.” _


End file.
